This weekend's training (Page 2 of 4)
All I managed to do this weekend was a little indoor dryfire... with my repaired carbine... with Nightvision  Worked standing, kneeling and prone positions with NODS. Mostly passive. I will say that the head tilt required to do passive kneeling and prone positions is fatiguing on my neck. That said, practice made me realize I have come a long way since last summer. I took what I learned from Green Eye Tactical and got a lot of gear properly configured, tested, and learned. That includes making the jump to Red Dot Optic pistols. I also applied what I learned to develop custom zeros and range cards for all rifles, improved my data on my rifle/ammo combos, and improved my marksmanship with both pistol and rifle. War HOGG Tactical has motto "Be 1% Better everyday" I can't say I train ever single day... but if you take continuous small steps forward over time... you come a VERY long way periods of a year or more. |
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You make a great point about dryfire. It should be done RIGHT. In reference to pistol, I speak. Gabe White advocates this, and I've started to do my dryfire this way ONLY. To be sure, some slow warm-up reps to establish form, but from there, the goal is keeping sights aligned, and grip solid, with a fast press. Because you're right, slow dryfire isn't completely helpful, as when you're shooting rapidly, that does not apply. Almost all of our defensive/offensive pistol use is just that--get the gun out and up and PRESS NOW NOW NOW. So it made sense to me to go in that direction. I'm having alot less clustering of shots off to the left now in rapid fire. |
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Originally Posted By JoeDevola: You make a great point about dryfire. It should be done RIGHT. In reference to pistol, I speak. Gabe White advocates this, and I've started to do my dryfire this way ONLY. To be sure, some slow warm-up reps to establish form, but from there, the goal is keeping sights aligned, and grip solid, with a fast press. Because you're right, slow dryfire isn't completely helpful, as when you're shooting rapidly, that does not apply. Almost all of our defensive/offensive pistol use is just that--get the gun out and up and PRESS NOW NOW NOW. So it made sense to me to go in that direction. I'm having alot less clustering of shots off to the left now in rapid fire. This is such a huge paradigm shift from how people were being taught 25 years ago. Back then I was taught slow is smooth, smooth is fast. The Ken Hackathorn... practice slow, shoot only for accuracy approach is just fine for beginners... but if you actually want to shoot fast and accurate you need to practice fast. Rob Leatham/Stoeger/Pranka all stress this point. |
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Weather was perfect today. Sunny, mid 60s, and we got a break from the wind. 16 inch Carbine is back in action with new furniture: Attached File The Magpul STR stock was an amazing upgrade. I was surprised at how much it helped. Better cheek weld and more stable on the rear bag. My sub 2 MOA rifle went to a 1 MOA rifle. Not to shabby for a run of the mill PSA upper. PSA uppers rule!!  5 Round group at 50 yards:Attached File Echo Mike's new targets are out. High quality and innovative. This particular one is scaled for an armored threat moving at 8mph: This requires a lead, so you shoot the outline. Practiced swinging the rifle into a lead and shot: Attached File You can see that hard side plates didn't do him much good, but the front plate did help. The hips were easy to target and reliable to hit. Leading the head worked out for me here... but without magnification the outline to aim at, I think I would have taken hip or center of mass shots if this was a real scenario. Ran a makeup of the Modified ALT-C from last time. Again, the target was extended out at 50 yards, doubling all distances (in yards). Bi-pod support and rear bag were used for all rounds. Cleaned it: Attached File Began engaging steel targets at 200, 250, 300, and 400. Hit the 4 inch round plate at 250 again. This time, with a staked castle nut, the rifle kept going and got hits on a 1/3 silhouette at 300 yards, and a fullsize silhouette at 400. My 77grn range card started showing some limitations. I was running 69gr and the data was slightly off. With a little work I still managed to hit a 15 inch round plate at 400y. Tried several 300 yard F-class targets (5 rounds): Attached File Old paster came loose, but this was a 44/50... which is not bad for an EOTech with a 4x magnifier. |
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Next up was the 6.5CM RPR, recently upgraded with an arca rail: Attached File The Really Right Stuff bipod attachment is the most amazing bipod accessory I've experienced. It took my bipod to the next level. Ran a few bolt gun drills while drilling steel out to 400y. These drills are from John Plaster: •Tactical Reload Drill -start rifle and mag loaded, reload, check brass is in chamber [0 rounds] •Speed Reload Drill- 2 shots, empty mag, reload and fire 1 [3 rounds] •Support Side Drill – start with rifle on support side. Strong hand manipulates bolt handle [ran this dry] •Simultaneous engagement drill – 2 shooters engage a target simultaneously on count down from 5. Buddy and I both engaged steel poppers at 200y with the Simultaneous engagement drill. The poppers are spring loaded and normally return, but with 6.5cm they stopped going back up: Attached File The RPR cleared every piece of steel on the range with first round hits, including the 4 inch round plate at 400y. All based on a range card without doing any zeroing since last time. It was a great day on the range! |
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Spring Break training was all about rucking. Started in Fredericksburg with a short but scenic ruck: Attached File Attached File Amazing view from the top! Next was Enchanted Rock: Attached File Attached File E-rock can be a real challenge in the heat, but temps were nice and it was scenic and fun The following day was Doeskin Ranch at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge Attached File This can also be a challenge in the heat, but was a fairly easy 3.5 miles in the milder temps |
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Final ruck was Horseshoe bay hiking trail. It's a lesser known spot, but well worth it. Even with a dry spring the bluebonnets are starting to appear: Attached File Attached File Attached File Added up was a lot of miles over 3 days. My phone showed 6 miles the first day, 5.7 the second, and 5 the third. Not all rucking over rough terrain, but good times |
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This weekend's training was something completely different. Took my first class on Wild Edibles. Learning how to forage in the local environment is a completely new skill for me. There is a ton to know and it isn't for the faint hearted. While we are all taught not to go eating random things in nature for important reasons (Poisonous plants, allergic reactions, etc) if you do have proper knowledge of nature, that knowledge is world changing. At the beginning of class we walked out into a green field and within minutes had identified numerous edible plants. Not everything is tasty, but flowers aren't half bad. Vegetables at the store may be bred to be tastier, but the wild versions of broccoli, onions, etc exist out in nature. It was very eye opening to see how much nature can provide. It might not be a steak and lobster dinner, but there are tons of sources of fiber and micronutrients out in the wild. Learning foraging is a mindset change from dependence (getting food from the grocery store), to freedom. For most of human history people were hunter/gatherers. Trying it out, I was shocked how much gathering is instinctive and fun. You walk around the woods and pickup and eat stuff. Shopping and some video games try to mimic the gathering process... but they are poor substitutes. There is a reason for hunting/trapping/farming/ranching... as foraging may not keep you completely fed, but it does reduce dependence and can be helpful in an emergency. Food Weaponization Makes a Deadly Comeback (2024) Using food as a weapon has happened on our shores before: Siege of Vicksburg (1863) It's been said "Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics" Learning foraging as all about logistics. You can find your own salad, medicinal, caffeine in nature. Even make your own alcohol with what you find. The book "Foraging: Explore Nature's Bounty and Turn Your Foraged Finds Into Flavorful Feasts" and the "Picture This" app were recommended. As was being cautious, 100% certain to identify any plant, and using multiple references to make that determination. |
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Since the class was in Farmersville, which was the one time home of Audie Murphy, I took the chance to stop by the Audie Murphy museum. It didn't disappoint: Attached File Attached File Attached File How is that relevant to training? Well at the museum was written in stone several of the reasons why we train: Attached File Attached File |
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Attached File What was interesting about Audie was that they talk about how he was such a good shot with a rifle, but in fact he only qualified Marksman (a pass). A target Audie shot with a revolver at 15 yards suggests he wasn't much better with a revolver (he was shooting for the O): Attached File It shows that marksmanship isn't everything. Audie was a hunter who was familiar with firearms, he did have an Expert Infantry Badge, and was known to be aggressive. Those things did seem to serve him well in combat. |
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| Went and took a defensive carbine class that focused on movement. Subject included how to get your body into a good solid base, moving while shooting, moving and shooting as soon as you stop, moving between people and shooting, and how to take take shots in crowds of people. There was some rifle shooting along with the T4E training guns. |
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Originally Posted By caduckgunner: Went and took a defensive carbine class that focused on movement. Subject included how to get your body into a good solid base, moving while shooting, moving and shooting as soon as you stop, moving between people and shooting, and how to take take shots in crowds of people. There was some rifle shooting along with the T4E training guns. Nice!  Sounds like a little bit of 2-way range shooting? That stuff is priceless |
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This weekend was back to Survival School Level 1 This time I took a 12yo who was older and less difficult. The weather also cooperated to make it a beautiful weekend outdoors. With an alternate location in Farmersville the experience was completely different than December. Training was mostly for the benefit of the kid, who was thrilled to be there, but I was surprised how much benefit I got. First things first it was an amazing weekend to spend in the great outdoors. Sunny with highs in the eighties. This time, without all the cold, wet, and mud I was able to actually take notes. We cover knots again, including the overhand loop, slipknot, square knot, prusik knot, and Truckers Hitch. Having not taken notes or practiced the knots, it was almost sad how much I forgot over the last several months. This kid had some prior instruction on knots and outdid me! We covered improvised tarp shelters including the plow point, lean to, and A-Frame. Working together we crushed those. Next was Fire. Always a fun one. Plenty of dead stuff to burn from the forest, but after all the recent rain in was more damp that it looked. More fuel and fewer issues than in December: Attached File Did medical with CAT TQs and improvised TQs (we used a shemagh with a stick), both self-application and buddy. With land nav we found azimuths and found pace counts. This stuff was easy for me, but a great experience for the kid. There were discussions on water, gear, and best practices in the outdoors. One interesting signaling item was the green laser. That thing can be seen from a very long ways. If you are truly lost in the wilderness it's a piece of kit to think about. Some recommended reading was Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why and Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience. There is science behind who lives and who dies. And even if you survive a major event, you aren't done. You still need to defeat surviver's guilt, which can kill you as well. One major step up I took from December was gear. I phased out some older, heavier gear and got a new CrossFire3 pack and backpacking 4 season tent: Attached File Lightweight gear and leaving the winter gear at home saved me a crazy amount of weight. Leaving the extra pounds behind is a game changer. Loving the modern pack. Our final test gave us 45 minutes to put up a tarp shelter, gather materials from the forest and start a fire with a ferro rod, and to boil 8oz of water in that fire. The plow point shelter only takes around 2 minutes. Easy. Plenty of fire material in the forest. Ferro rod lit it right up... and then the instructor dropped a bomb on us. I was told I had a severe bleed in my left arm and the kid had to deploy a TQ on it immediately to save my life. I lost the use of the arm for the remainder of the exercise and because the fire was at a critical point during the interruption... I couldn't keep it stoked to boil water. It went out. With the large group of students all burning cedar at the same time, the smoke was thick, and my very real cedar allergies were triggered. I had to step away. The kid managed to get more fuel and get the fire going to boil our water (under supervision of the instructors). He saved the day. Mission accomplished! We are both looking forward to the next Survival Class. |
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This weekend's training was Land Navigation. It was a 2 day class, focused on Hiking applications, which I do a lot of. Day one was classroom and several map and compass exercises. For Hiking maps are critical. One noteworthy slide was Contour risk levels: Attached File I hadn't seen it set to a system before. Best to know the risk early before you attempt the slope. Exercises included pace counting, orienting the map to North, taking Bearings, calculating Back Bearings (Reverse Az), Finding Directions on a map, Resection, testing our personal drift, using 3 sticks and the sun, etc. We reviewed various Compass types. Cammenga, Suunto MC-2, and the Suunto clip-on were covered... which was perfect because I brought all three. I've had training on Cammenga's, but what I know of the Suunto's I have learned on my own. Needed practice with all three. For hiking, honestly the $20 Suunto clip-on was the best. Easy to quickly find your cardinal directions. Got some practice working the rotating bezel which is not something I typically use, but is very useful. Of course we covered declination, the easiest way to mess up your compass nav. This was a useful link to find your location's declination: Attached File While I have always used the North Star for night time nav, if it's cloudy out and you can't find Polaris, you can use the motion of any star as well: Attached File |
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Using the Crescent moon to find South was notable: One of the most amazing aspects was our discussion and fieldwork on The Natural Navigator: The Rediscovered Art of Letting Nature Be Your Guide. You can know a ton about direction by simply looking at what nature is doing. The sun is strongest from the South, which has specific effects on plants. It's almost spooky when you learn to know what you are looking at. Direction signs are everywhere in nature. No compass required. Day 2 was a 10+ mile hike at Lavon Lake: Attached File Attached File Per usual in Texas, the Cottonmouths were in the creeks: Attached File Our instructor tested us along the way. It was most interesting to see him in action, in that he was so at home out in nature. In Texas the primary limiting factor to hiking is water. Watching our instructor's Grayl water filter in action was eye opening. The Grayl is a very convenient way to collect, filter, and transport water out on the trail. I typically carefully pre-plan water needs and pack water on the trail... which is heavy (but essential). Carrying a convenient filter gives you a lot more margin for error, and the Grayl may beat my Sawyer in that regard. |
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Last weekend was mostly fitness. In addition to my regular swims/walks/hikes, the Fam did a 9.4 mile loop around White Rock Lake: Attached File Weather was glorious. For the past few years there have been some new neighbors at the lake: Attached File Bald Eagles. 'merica! Range days coming up. |
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Friday started out with a little indoor shooting. Replaced the battery in the Shield Plus Holosun sight in April and was past due needing to verify the zero was still holding. This was at 20ft: Attached File Shows I needed the practice, but otherwise the pistol was good to go. The ACSS is a great sight, but it really seems to eat batteries. Last one died after 6 months. Next I switched to the M&P9 fullsize. That was an eyeopening experience. The Holosun SCS is a great sight outdoors (Day/night), but indoors the self regulating brightness doesn't always work so well. It was way too bright. The bloom on the dot blocked the entire 8 inch target at 15 yards. There is a way to get more brightness by pushing a button on the SCS... but if you want less apparently you have to tape over the light sensor. Ugh I decided to shoot with it anyway and see what I could do. This was the NRA Level 4 pistol qual, 20 shots at 15 yards: Attached File All shots were within the required 6 inch group, but 1 was outside the circle ... so 19/20. Pass. I could do better with a proper sight picture, but good enough. The more complex gear gets the more there is to know about its quirks. Good to know all this now. Wouldn't have known if I didn't try this out. Shot a 16 inch AR-15 carbine with and without the Surefire RC3 attached. The Surefire Warcomp is a nice muzzle attachment and shot well on its own. Shooting rifles indoors is always loud, but adding the silencer certainly made the experience more pleasant. I don't plan to use that setup for home defense, but it was good to get a feel for how well a silenced AR15 would shoot indoors. Saturday was outdoors... |
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Years ago I had started an NRA MQP Bullseye Pistol course. But my eyesight has gotten worse since then and I had left it unfinished. Now that I'm running optics, farsightedness is no longer an issue and I decided to see what the optics could do. Sadly I am beginning to realize how much maintenance these optics take. The SCS is solar rechargeable and a direct mount...I thought what could go wrong? Well the optic was already dirty after Fridays short range session. After cleaning it off I realized the optic was loose. It was tightened to spec using blue loctite... but that didn't seem to matter. Apparently cleaning and confirming proper tightness on these optics after a range session will have to be standard practice going forward. Years ago I got a screaming deal on TQ-6 (slow) & 7 (timed and rapid fire) targets which are positioned at 25ft. Bullseye is shot in 3 stages, slowfire (10rds in 10 min), timed(10rds in two 20 second strings), and rapid fire(10rds in two 10 second strings. The optics really helped on all stages: Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File Scoring these things gets interesting. I needed a bullet to find out if I was touching the rings or not and even then it sometimes gets speculative when you 3 bullets go through the same hole. Was surprised that I actually did better on rapid fire than timed fire. The optic really shines for precision at speed. Shot a few different brands of ammo. Remington and Magtech did great. Venom not so much. Venom primers didn't work every time. Some wouldn't fire on the third try. None of the ammo was match quality, but Venom accuracy was not as good as I hoped for either. Sometimes it might have been me, but it is a bit frustrating when you do your part and the bullet lands well outside the black. Bumped up my rating to Sharpshooter Bar 9. Next time out hitting Expert should be easy. |
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Also had the chance to do a little rifle at 300y and 400y. This time I brought the right range card for 69grn. Attached File Made some changes to the rifle setup. Really Right Stuff has an amazing Harris Bipod Adapter. Uses a throw lever and works with both standard rails and Arca. It's perfect. The most visible part of a modern rifle is the light. I added a cover for the Surefire light and a hexcap for the EOTECH from One Hundred Concepts. One Hundred Concepts accessories are lightweight and have been working perfectly: Attached File I was 3 out of 5 on a one third size silhouette at 300. Since it approximates a 900y shot... I'll take it. Fullsize 400 yard silhouette was easy. At 400 I rang 12 inch steel pretty regularly... 8 inch steel occasionally. Proper range card helped, but the standard EOTECH reticle doesn't give you much to go by. ~3MOA at 400 yards isn't too bad for 69grn .223. Looking to head back to North East Texas Tactical to do more work at 500+ |
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Did some pistol and rifle this weekend. Continued with the NRA Bullseye Pistol qual. Shot 6 aggregates (slow, timed, rapid). The first served as a warmup, as I was just short of the 250 required. I might have hit it but ran out of time on the last rapid fire stage and didn't get off one of my shots. But the other 5 aggregates hit the mark and I hit the expert standard. My timed scores improved dramatically. A few nice ones: Attached File Attached File You gotta love the nice holes in the cardboard backer at the end of the session: Attached File Stuck with Magtech ammo this time. Magtech is far better ammo than Venom from both the reliability and accuracy standpoint. Zero malfunctions. Then I did a little NRA F-class at 100y with the MR-31 target (saves a lot of walking): Attached File Attached File |
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Eric from Green Eye Tactical was there working with a student and let me get some ballistic data on his Garmin. ADI World Class 69grn/16 inch barrel/SOCOM RC3 silencer: Attached File Attached File Eric gave me a few free pointers. Reminded me that no matter how much I think I know that having a coach watching you is always an asset. Hope to train with Green Eye Tactical again soon. |
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Had the chance to get back out to North East Texas Tactical (NETT) today. They have 4 ranges and none were overcrowded. I paid for the Long-Range Rifle range. You get a NETT dogtag to show your membership: Attached File They make you run a challenging qualification in addition to the fees. First you fire a 3 round group at 100y... group must be 1.5moa or less. Easy day for my 6.5CM RPR. I did have to make an adjustment for elevation and zeroed out the turrets and ran another 3-round group to confirm. Next part of the qualification you get 7 rounds and 4 minutes to hit a 75% scale USPSA target at 300y, 400y, 500y, 600y, and 700y. That's the equivalent of 400, 533, 667, 800, 933 yards. A pic of the range from the 20ft tower: Attached File There was time to set up your equipment before shooting. Wind was light but variable. AB Quantum was actually functioning properly today (confirmed with my range card) and I hit 5-for-5. Two rounds and no time to spare. Attached File Honestly NETT qualifier seemed to be a tougher course than Army sniper quals. And that's just to have the opportunity to shoot. I was hoping to also do some 500+ yard work with an AR-15, but they frown on any optics without turrets... my AR15 optic doesn't have turrets...so AR15 shooting was not to be. My spotter gave me a little info after the qual...I made some adjustments to AB Quantum accordingly to help "true" the ballistic solution... confirmed...then I started walking out... hit the fullsize silhouette at 800, 900, 1,000, 1,100 without the help of a spotter. Started struggling at the 1,200. Those little things that don't matter close in add up to important things the further out you go. Rifle started the day dirty (cleaning it was on my to do list) and started having lots of failures to eject. I walked it back a little and then switched to hitting small targets at 500... I don't know the exact size but the diamond looked about head sized and I nailed it at several others... then I tried some medium targets at 600. Good hits... but my shots started drifting. Several near misses. did some larger targets but started to fatigue and ended up calling it a day. It was my first time hitting KD targets beyond 500 yards. Good Day. Made sure to clean my dirty rifles at home. Twenty some years ago Marine snipers were proud to get hits at 1,000 yards using M40A3 7.62×51mm rifles. It is eye opening how far things have come as far as long distance in the last 20 years. The science, technology, and affordability have come a long way. |
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To update the previous weekend I also did some indoor pistol shooting with a buddy. Suppressed .22cal and Suppressed and unsuppressed 9mm from the M&P9 Fullsize. Group shooting at 10, 15, 20 and 45 ft. Also had time to do an NRA Bullseye Aggregate: Attached File The overall aggregate wasn't good enough to count towards Stage Course Distinguished Expert but I counted it towards the Bullseye Aggregate Course. Finished off with a few CSAT drills. I was running just under 1 second for 2 A-zone shots at 7 yards from the low ready. Also ran some 2+1 and a Bill Drill. |
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| This weekend I dusted off my Gracie Combatives DVD's to teach some family Jiu-Jitsu. It's been over 10 years since I've done any formal BJJ training. The kids like to wrestle and have all spent years on the receiving end of Jiu-Jitsu without them understanding why they always lost. They are now ages 6-12 and soaked up the first two Lessons like a sponge. Covered trap and roll, intro to the mount, and Americana Armlock. Great refresher for me as well. The videos do a great job breaking things down and covering the important details. You always know you did Jiu-Jitsu the next day. Still moving a little slow. Kids are ready for more. 34 more techniques to go. They used to give out Blue Belts if you completed the program, but sounds like that may no longer be the case. |
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Pistol and Rifle this weekend. Started out running three bullseye aggregates (30rds each aggregate: Slow(10), Timed(10), and Rapid fire(10)). It's no secret that Delta uses bullseye training for both pistol and rifle in OTC. This is Larry Vickers - Delta Force discussing that on the SRS. Delta uses a B8 at 25 yards, but it's a bit more efficient to use scaled down bullseyes at 25ft. Less time to walk back and forth as well as you get faster feedback being able to see hits: Attached File Attached File Shot Magtech ammo again. TQ-6 was difficult to even score, but a few points either way didn't make a significant difference in the result. I did well (Expert), but not quite good enough for Distinguished. I suspect that if I upgraded to match ammo Distinguished will come a little quicker... but I continue with the NRA Bullseye aggregate course until that becomes a wall to my progress. Rifle was next up: Attached File Attached File Toughest part was slogging through the mud. I'd used some Wipeout on the barrel and needed to re-zero. Not much change, but as copper is added back to the grooves the zero shifts slightly. RPR is a tack driver as usual, but will need a few more rounds through it to get the zero stabilized. Tried out a brand new CMP style shooting mat, which was glorious. I guess I'm getting too old to lay on the ground. Recovery time is taking longer and with the new mat I don't even notice having shot prone the next day: Attached File |
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With the AR-15 shooting 55gr Wolf Gold I did a 5rd zero, shot some steel at 200 yards to confirm, then engaged 200 yard scaled F-class targets: Attached File Attached File All 5 Groups were excellent. Just used Kentucky windage with the EOTech. When my hold was right everything came together perfectly. 50-2X is a solid score on F-Class. Will continue the NRA F-class qual with the AR-15 to make sure I can get the most out of my general purpose rifle. At the end I engaged steel at 250y, 300y, and 400y. Getting a 1st and 2nd round hit on a 1/3 size USPSA at 300 yards was my proudest moment. That simulates a hit at 900 yards, using a PSA upper and EOtech with a magnifier (not equipment designed for precision). Good day on the range, but still have some mud to clean. |
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This weekend I took a class on Wilderness First Aid For Dogs With how expensive the vet can be these days it's a surprisingly useful course. Some great info on preventing issues before they occur and how to deal with common issues that do occur. Even if you aren't taking your dog out camping or on the trail the first aid info is pure gold. |
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Happy 4th!!! While grillin' and chillin' are great ways to celebrate the 4th, I took advantage of the weather yesterday for my own celebration of FREEDOM: Started out with some NRA Bullseye Pistol Aggregates. Have been working at this for what seems like forever and the progress is getting un-denyable: Attached File Hit the 269/300 I needed Three times out of four attempts... made real progress towards Distinguished Expert. Didn't even need a warmup. Tried out the a Onehundredconcepts Hexcap on my RPR: Attached File Still banging 4 inch steel at 400 yards. Next I dialed in my PSA Gen3 PA-65 (AR-10 in 6.5CM): Attached File This rifle is a steal for the money. It is NOT a 1 MOA rifle, but close: Attached File (That's 5 shots, and I can't even tell with certainty which hole took 2 bullets) It cleaned the course except for the 4 inch steel at 400. There were some misses on 6 inch at 400 and a 1/3 USPSA at 300, but overall impressive for a ~$1K rifle. With the demanding course at North East Texas Tactical, I may end up stepping up to a Seekins SP-10 which is both smoother and more precise. PSA should think about a Gen4 rifle to compete with Seekins. |
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Did a little AR-15 action: Attached File Shot an Appleseed AQT target at 50 yards (instead of the standard 25). All shots from prone supported: Attached File I probably should have dialed it in a bit more for the 55gr ammo, but not terrible. I love Appleseed and recommend everyone try it. They teach history and marksmanship in a unique way. I do wish they got rid of the (completely unrealistic) loop sling technique and allowed at least magazine support (if not bipods and bags). Training is maximizing the use of your equipment and not using support when it is available is a major mistake. |
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Last night was nightvision training. I have been meaning to do more VTAC barrricade shooting with nightvision. Set it up and ran airsoft in the backyard: Attached File NGAL was great, although without using my Unity switch finding the button in various positions was more challenging: Attached File Ran 9-hole drills, both active and passive, as well as working around the outside of the barricade (left and right sides, standing, kneeling, crouching, prone). It's crazy how accurate you can be aiming the laser out one hole, while looking through another: Attached File Accuracy at ~8 yards was good. But I was moving very slow. Ran everything several times just to see if I could get better at it, as well as switching to T-box aiming. After a while the passive aiming was a decent speed, but laser still not that fast. Shooting out of the small openings in the bottom was tough... and impossible for the T-box shots as I couldn't get the right angle. The Romeo5 is not at all an ideal optic for nightvision, but generally serviceable. Even with the Rome5 brightness turned down it's easier to see the target while aiming with an active IR laser. Made me long for my EOTech with nightvision mode. Attached File I decided that barricade shooting is something I need more practice/training with. Then I ran some CSAT drills closer in (both active and passive): -Ready 1 shot 1 target 7 yards 1.00 sec. -Ready 2 shots 1 target 7 yards 1.50 sec. -Ready 2/1 Body/Head 7 yards 1.75 sec -Ready 5/1 Body/Head 7 yards 3.00 sec. -Ready 2 shots /2 targets 7 yards 3.00 sec. Everything but the transition to head shot was very easy to make. I got some benefits out of drills 3&4, as they got smoother after each rep. |
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Today I requaled as a Texas License to Carry instructor. They make you shoot both a semi-auto and revolver. Minimum caliber is 9mm/.38spc. Minimum score is 90%. Also had the chance to do a TDSA subgun qual. You fire 1 three round burst and then a mag dump on auto. You have to keep all rounds on a silhouette. The fun part was I got to use a silenced 9mm B&T (I believe SPC9 SD), which was super cool. Next I got my PA-65 gas system dialed in and shot targets out to 400 yards. Managed to hit the 4 inch steel at 400 this time, but not consistently. Thinking that with a silencer the rifle will group a little better. Looking forward to $0 Tax stamps in January. Finished off with shooting 5 Bullseye Pistol aggregates. Continuing to show improvement. 4 aggregates met the threshold for Distinguished Expert. Now I'm only 3 away from completing the Stage course Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Originally Posted By caduckgunner: Took a pistol/rifle fundamentals class this weekend. Pretty basic stuff, but practicing the basics is what makes you good. Did individual pistol work, then rifle, then combined the 2 and practices transitions. Nice! In the end hitting what you are aiming at is what matters most |
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Appended to last weekends training, after my day job on Monday I met up with a Texas License to Carry student to run the proficiency part of the Texas LTC. If students elect to do the classroom portion of the training online, they must meet up in person with an instructor to do 1-2 hours of range instruction and shoot a proficiency qualification: Shooting the Texas LTC Test | Texas License to Carry Proficiency Test My training methods produce results. Unlike the video (where the shooter started aimed at the target) my student started at low ready and still passed the qualification on the first go. I believe the ancient martial artists were right. Being able to teach others your art is the highest level of proficiency. |
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This weekend I continued with the NRA Pistol Bullseye MQP Course of Fire. Specifically I have been working on an off for the last 7 years on the Stage Skill course. It was a big day because I only had 3 more aggregates (at least 269/300) to shoot to earn distinguished expert. First aggregate went easy. Then the next, and then the final was even better. Some targets: Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File My best aggregate was 285/300. My highest score yet! Structured practice over time works. I've completed 12 other MQP courses, but Pistol Bullseye was hands down the toughest. Over the years I very easily shot over 1,000 rounds to complete the Pistol Bullseye Stage Skill course. For good measure I did some aggregates on the Pistol Bullseye Aggregate Skill course and hit Expert. Ten more like these and I'll have another Distinguished Expert on that course as well. |
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Next I finally got the Rarebreed FRT-15L3 to work in my LaRue. The key to making forced reset work was adding an H3 buffer. Attached File To make it interesting I made my own targets based on the Army LIGHT MACHINE GUN TC 3-22.249 and ran through Firing Table I, automatic rifle role. The course of fire is shot at 10m. Skipped the CBRN requirements and went to work. Zeroing went well: Attached File Then I did some short bursts: Attached File I was supposed to keep all shots in the tombstone (aka paster), but my biggest difficulty was getting exactly 3 rounds fired. Ran a few other targets: Attached File Attached File Because I didn't get off all my shots, it didn't look like a pass, but it was fun and certainly made me want to print some more targets for next time. |
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Attached File Attached File The LaRue ran well with a Surefire Warcomp. Tried several different magazines. Lancer, Surefire MAG60, and Magpul D60. No issues other than the Surefire mag being a bit tall for bipod use... but it still worked. The RareBreed safety came blue loctited, but still managed to loosen up a bit. Finished off with a little close range standing fire. COM bursts, zipper, bursts at the head, etc. Attached File FRT has a slightly different feel than a machinegun, so that was something to get used to. Next was some long range action. Rather than buy a $3-5K Seekins SP10, adding a flat spring to my PA-65 is only $30. So I decided to try that out. The flatspring has more resistance, so I had to increase the gas a notch. It takes a lot more strength to cycle the action with a flat spring and my bolt hold open is not holding open on the last round... but having a properly gassed PA-65 with a flatspring is a more pleasant shooting experience. The new spring doesn't seem to have increased my accuracy any, but I may be able to get away with a lighter trigger weight now. I banged steel from 250 out to 400. Nothing was safe except the 4 inch steel at 400. The rifle may or may not pass a NETT qualification (requires a 1.5MOA group). I plan to add a HUXWRX can in January. Perhaps with reduced barrel whip from adding a can I will have a 1-MOA rifle? |
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Rough start this weekend. Began with the NRA Pistol Bullseye Aggregate Skill Course. My first aggregate was 251/300...way below my last 285/300... and then I figured out why. Pistol Optic (which was tightened the day before) came loose again. Holosun customer service has been contacted. I think their mounting screws are too short. Blue thread locker isn't doing it. Switched to Rifle: Attached File Quickly found my BetaMag doesn't work with the HRF magwell. But the Magpul 40 and Surefire MAG60 worked just fine: Attached File 10m 3rd zero went well... one hole: Attached File After a little practice things started to come together: Attached File Good thing the Surefire RC3 is full auto rated! Then my stapler died. So I switched to steel from 200 to 400: Attached File Nothing was safe. 1st round hits on the 4 inch steel at 400. That is a LaRue Rifle in action. FRT semi trigger is a little spongy, but it works well. The Day reminds me why I like the ACOG so much. It made things very easy. But the best way to use an ACOG is actually what I learned from Todd Hodnett. Build a card showing dimensions of all the features on the reticle in MOA. When you know how many MOA you need and what everything on the reticle means in MOA, you are all set. Sunday I worked with a young LEO student. He needs to qualify with a new Level III retention holster, so we ran some dryfire & livefire drills. Started out with dryfire: Dot Torture, then NRA Defensive Pistol II, then a little timed speed draw work. Next came live fire. He qualified NRA Distinguished Expert on Defensive Pistol II and got some data on his average draw speed. Got ~450 trigger pulls for only 200 rounds of ammo. |
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This is the card for my ACOG with ACSS: Attached File |
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Originally Posted By caduckgunner: Took a small unit force on force CQB class. Learned a lot (especially since I was with 3 people I did not know). Also learned some lessons the hard way since we were using unit solutions training guns. Sounds like a great training experience. I've had Force on Force instructors tell me they themselves learn something new every time they run a FoF class. |
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Watched the video Make Ready with Doc Spears: Combat Lifesaver https://www.makeready.tv/en/watch/tutorial/details/make-ready-with-doc-spears-combat-lifesaver/5380 Spears is a surgeon and explains TCCC care under fire the way only a physician can. Well worth the time if you aren't familiar with the subject. I've had some training on this stuff (Army Combat Lifesaver, Stop the Bleed, etc), but it was a nice refresher on some points and all of my TQ training is with CAT or SOFT TQs. The video also demonstrated the TK4 which was new to me. |
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Post is a little delayed, but training last week was hiking/light ruck in British Columbia. Weather is perfect this time of year. Vancouver Island has some perfect spots for hiking: Attached File Attached File Perhaps it's a little hard to see, but there is bright lichen on this bolder: Attached File You can tell direction with lichen. While lichen tends to grow in different directions, it has a tendency to be brighter when facing south. My compass confirmed bright lichen was facing south. |
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Regarding this weekend, it was back to the range. Holosun supplied some new screws to attach my pistol sight and they worked. After a little zeroing I got back to the NRA Pistol Bullseye Aggregate Skills course: Attached File Attached File Three aggregates met the 269/300+ standard. Seven more to go to my next Distinguished Expert. The NRA recently revamped their America’s Rifle Challenge Inside NRA America’s Rifle Challenge It looked like they have a number of worthwhile courses of fire, so I decided to try some of them out. There are brand new targets for this, but the new targets are actually very similar to Bianchi cup targets, which I already have. Details to follow |
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So the new America's Rifle Challenge(ARC) Level 1 is 92 rounds in all. Stage 1 of the new ARC is shot at 10 yards. You are shooting for a 4 inch circle. It has good up drills like 1 shot, 2 shots, 5 shots with target transitions, and reloads (1+1). Setup: Attached File Results: Attached File All clean and with qualifying times. I goofed on one of my reload drills (mag was stowed facing wrong way) and that put me right on the buzzer for that. Times range from 1.15 sec for 1 shot up drill to 1.96 sec for 2 shots, to 8.53 seconds for 5 shots on each target. I am not used to shooting these drills with that amount of precision, but the time standards are more than a little watered down. You are scored par time(3 to 12 seconds) plus penalty, which I think was done for efficiency of running the event. I would much rather shoot these raw time plus penalty, as close quarters shooting should be fast. Also not quite sure why the reloads were 1+1, as 2+2 is a more modern standard. Next I tried Stage 2 String 4. 10 rounds in 45 seconds from 25 yards standing. I goofed the first time and moved my offset in the wrong direction, most of my shots going low into the 8 inch circle: Attached File Reshot String 4 using the proper offset with better results (only 2 of 10 in the 8 inch ring): Attached File Time standards were not difficult (I didn't rush and still hit 32-34 seconds). With only 25 yards to work with and not wanting to change out my fullsize targets I jumped to Stage 3: String 1 was a great drill for me. Standing to kneeling, 5 shots on each target from 25 yards in 15 seconds. Really needed the practice with a service rifle in the on this drill. No problem hitting the time standard, but had 3 shots in the 8 inch ring, 2 in the 12 inch ring, and 1 just outside the 12 ring. Need to spend more time on this one. Next was shooting on the move, advancing from the 20 yard line, 5 shots. And finally advancing from the 15 yard line, 5 shots. Had a few 8 inch and 12 inch ring hits, but it was shooting on the move. Attached File Plan to try some of the other strings and Stage 4 next time. The great thing about it was that it seems to test variety of relevant skills. Helps find your strengths and weaknesses. Round count is reasonable. |
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Right ARC Stage 3 target: Attached File Saturday I did some airsoft. Point shooting on B8 bullseyes. Ready up drills. 1 shot, 2 shots, 5 shots, and target transitions (2&2). Helps my ammo budget to do those reps with airsoft. But the best part of Airsoft is getting to do things you can't normally do with firearms. In this case it was airsoft shoothouse scenarios. Multiple reduced size threat targets in a building, and you search and neutralize them. Ran with Airsoft Rifle AEG and pistol as backup. I was slow and methodical. All successful iterations. One iteration involved switching shoulders. Watching others run these you quickly learn common mistakes: #1. Spray and Pray is a waste of ammo. Inexperienced shooters with rock and roll with full auto and shoot 30+ rounds and still don't hit the threat targets. You need to properly aim at the threat. That is usually using your sights. Don't forget your sights. #2. Looking but not really seeing. Hard to emphasize this enough. From lessons learned at the NTI "Many people will look directly at targets, doors, windows, etc but fail to see them or recognize them. A quick glance will often not be enough to give you all the information that you need. Sometimes slowing down and making sure you really see what you are looking at is the best thing you can do. Trying to rush through the problem will not help if you go by an exposed threat. At NTI. XIII many people opened a closet door and engaged a shoot target but did not see their bleeding family member lying on the ground in the doorway at their feet. Many did not even respond as the family-member pleaded for help. On several stages smoke was used. This caused a lot of confusion on the participant’s part and a lot of focus had to be used to figure out what was going on. This caused a serious degrading of tactics and marksmanship. The more hardwired the tactics and marksmanship is, the less thought has to be used for them and more thought can be given to really seeing what is going on around you." #3 Forgetting to clear from outside the room. Blundering into a room with multiple threats at multiple angles is suicide. I see it over and over. Especially with small 2 man teams. Be as methodical as you can. Use every bit of cover and concealment. Slice the pie. "Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It." |
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Instructed my first Red Dot Pistol class this weekend at TDSA. Round count was 500... which is as high as it goes for any of my 1 day classes. After a quick briefing about the benefits of electronic pistol sights, maintenance requirements, etc we did the mandatory safety brief and reviewed fundamentals of marksmanship including stance, grip, focus, NPOA etc. First drill was the cloverleaf drill. 4 shots slow fired at one spot. I let everyone dryfire first to make sure they were warmed up and comfortable with their pistol. Everyone's live fire group was impressive. At 3 yards, two students had 3 rounds through the same hole and all the holes were tightly grouped. Next we zeroed at 10, 15, and 25 yards. 5 rounds fired at each distance. Our goal was a 25 yard zero, but I find it best to work your way out to 25 yards. With everyone's zero confirmed we moved to 7 yards and worked a Centering Drill. Reliable, consistent, and fast pistol presentation/dot acquisition is the biggest issue with Red Dots. Bill Rogers has a fantastic technique for building a feel for precisely pointing your pistol during presentation. We did lots of dry reps presenting the pistol from the low ready/holster. TPC has a great target/drill called "The Cross of Truth" that precisely analyses your fundamentals of marksmanship in order to build consistency and speed. You fire one shot and see where the pistol returns to... and make adjustments as necessary to make sure the pistol returns to the same spot after each shot fired. This is a relatively low round count drill with a high payoff. Then we add a second shot and subsequently work to speed up splits by predicting when the dot will return. Then we shot some confirmation pairs on 2 inch dots. One of my students remarked that he had never shot any gun that fast before. With the fundamentals discussed, practiced, and refined, we dove into some of Ben Stoeger's favorite instructional drills. Predictive shooting at 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25 yards. This pushes students to an unconformable place. Next, Ben's 1 shot return drill, dryfire trigger drill, presentation drill at 15, 20, 25 yards. Occluded sight drill (tape over front of optic window) really threw some students for a loop. Its an odd thing to stare at your target with both eye's open and have a dot appear on the target even though the sight is taped over. But it is necessary to make sure students are conscious of their focus. A 20 yard dry fire focus drill re-enforced target focus at longer range. At that point I ran a Paul Howe Armed Silhouette Drill: Start facing away from photorealistic target. Turn. Find weapon on target, change focus to proper aimpoint and shoot a pair. Start dry, then run live 5 Times. This is a great drill that brought a lot of things together in a more real world, tactical sense. Finally we ran Bill Drills (present/draw and fire 6 rounds) at 3/5/7/10/12/15/20/25 yards. This exercise not only builds rapid fire skills, but reinforces the point that you have to vary your rate of fire at different distances. Results were that all shooters were showing improvement by the end of the day. My most experienced shooter performed to extremely high standards. My least experienced shooter shot well overall, but still needs practice quickly acquiring his dot. Less experienced shooters greatly benefited from the ACSS Vulcan reticle which has a large outer ring to aid in rapid dot acquisition. Shooting lots of live fire is fun, and in this case was necessary in order to build perspective and understanding of the capabilities and limitations of these pistol optics. One day training on optics really isn't enough. Self study at home certainly helps, but I plan to do a follow on course to reinforce this class as well as cover shooting multiple targets, moving while shooting, and evaluations using objective shooting standards. |
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Minted 1 new Texas License to Carry and 1 new NRA Range Safety Officer this week. Today I ran four NRA Bullseye pistol aggregates. Shooting can be a perishable skill and apparently it had been too long. My first aggregate was only 241/300. After a little practice I hit 265/300... but not quite the 269 I needed to make progress on the course. Next time will be better. Next I ran the TPC Cross of Truth at 7 yards: Attached File Attached File This is a breakdown:  Predictive Shooting | Tactical Rifleman Outstanding drills. Surprised that TPC and Stoeger don't mention natural point of aim (NPOA) more. To get that kind of consistency at speed NPOA is key. Next I wanted to practice a few drills for my Red Dot Pistol 2 class. I worked on target transitions: Attached File Attached File Sighted Split times were running around .20 at 5 yards and no more than .25 at 7 yards. Transition from target to target wasn't great. .6 to .8, but I am pretty well hardwired to look at my results on target 1 before moving to target 2. It's not what the competitive guys do, but cardboard never shoots back... And there is no way to predict how many hits Real threats will take before they go down. Next time out I'll hit the NRA Bullseye again and also run some movement drills and Modern Samurai Project Belt Standards |
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Almost forgot, last weekend was rucking in the Ouachita national forest: Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File I know a few trails out there not on "AllTrails", so land nav was part of it. Also, Pyramid Fire Lay's are awesome: Attached File Bic lighter, cotton ball soaked in vaseline, and just what wood and pine needles I could gather |
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Had the chance to get back out and hit the NRA Bullseye course again. Much better results after Friday's practice: Attached File Attached File Attached File Hit 273, 280, and 278... then ran out of targets. 4 more aggregates to go for next Distinguished Expert. Next I ran Modern Samurai Project standards: They must be done in this order and consecutively. All standards are from concealment. 1. 3&2 Drill. 3 yards. 3 shots to the COM Alpha then transition to 2 rounds on a 3x5 card in the head box. Par is 2.0 seconds. 2. 1 Shot Drill @ 7 yards. 1 shot to COM Alpha. Par is 1.0 second. 3. Bill Drill. 7 yards. 6 shots to COM Alpha. Par is 2.0 seconds. 4. 1 Shot Drill @ 25 yards. 1 shot to COM Alpha. Par is 1.5 seconds. This is what a clean run looks like: Attached File Sadly no where near the time standards. But regardless they are good drills to practice. Well worth the ammo. Next I ran some forward and lateral movement, firing pairs at a pair of targets twice. Not very realistic or really my style of movement, but the objective is to enhance proprioception with the red dot pistol... and this drill is a great challenge. If you thought you had no trouble finding your dot during the pistol presentation, try this drill. It may humble you. I had planned to have students run each variation 5 times (5x8x2 = 80 rounds total), but 10 reps is more realistic. Attached File For the movement drills (where accuracy isn't that important) I decided to try to use up my Venom ammo. There were multiple failures to fire in each box of 50 rounds. Pretty crappy. Couple hundred more rounds to go. Can't wait to burn up the last of that ammo. |
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